Eka-ge-kama: Phantasmagoria
by NonTimetisMessor
Summary: It's funny sometimes to watch a rock hit a lake. The ripples it creates multiply, divide and intersect but in the end they are just water washing up on the shore. AU after episode 4x11. Elena's existential angst leads her in a very different direction. This is Bonnie-centric So there will be Bamon, Stefonnie, Beremy.
1. Introduction

A/N

Disclaimer: Don't own TVD just like to play in the universe.

OK this is my newest fic, that I started writing. This is the first installment of Eka-ge-kama series. When I started writing Beautiful Savages it kind of got away from me and similar to my Arrow fic it is going to be long. Beautiful Savages deals primarily with how exactly Bonnie, Damon and Stefan established their arrangement and how she discovered the supernatural world outside of Mystic Falls. In writing the scenes in that fic, I came across the dilemma of how to reconcile cannon with Beautiful Savages, so I decided to write Phantasmagoria. This fic starts right after Stefan tells Elena, "This is how I look when I'm not in love with you" episode 4x11 and then everything after is AU. Also this fic starts off in 2002 and everyone will graduate high school in 2003. So everyone is either born in 1985 or 1984. This fic will go all the way up to dealing with the TO stuff and up to Bonnie and the girls surviving their first year of college.

DON'T WORRY I will continue writing both In the Sky with Diamonds and Feelin' Good, because I enjoy both stories. Sadly my Arrow fic will have to wait till the third season of Arrow comes out because I haven't been particularly been inspired by Olicity lately.

So this is Eka-ge-kama: Phantasmagoria. Again Eka-ge-kama is a euphemism in Sri Lanka literally translated as Eating in One House for a fraternal polyanderous marriage. That means one woman married to several men that are brothers. This type of marriage has been and still is practiced in several countries particularly in Asia. If you are interested the wiki page is actually pretty good with information but there are tons of Anthropological books on the subject. Just to be clear I am not an expert on this specific type of marriage but I always found it extremely fascinating.

WON'T YOU FOLLOW ME INTO THE JUNGLE?

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><p>Eka-ge-kama: Phantasmagoria<p>

_"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence."- Ghandi_

INTRODUCTION

His head was on my lap. His hair was slick with sweat and his skin was icy even more than usual. The stupid idiot was dying. I passed my fingers through his slick hair. A shiver passed through his body. I hated him for this; him and his incessant pestering. He caused this in me for him. He made me tolerate his presence first then seek out his company then inspired like in me for him. Finally I had come to care for him. I know of course that he had always inspired lust in me. He was beautiful but that mouth of his. In the early days, I just wanted to punch him in the throat to get him to stop talking and ruining my thoughts. I still want to punch him in the throat sometimes.

He started chuckling and then he started out right laughing. His insanity had finally broken.

"The last time I was here, it was Elena sitting there and me telling her I deserved to die—"

"Well…." I said with a smile creeping up on my face.

"Oh thanks you heartless woman," he said in a burst of laughter that turned into a cough.

"Anyway, I was telling her I deserved to die and I really thought it at the time but I told her I didn't regret it because I got to meet her," he said and I shifted uncomfortably.

"But really it was because my switch had turned back on and I had found someone that looked like Katherine but wasn't her. I was so pathetic," he said continuing.

"I didn't realize that I was substituting all my feelings—"

"Careful Damon you're sounding like you're a real boy." I smiled and he snorted at me and finally smiled.

"Songbird, I cared about her because she wasn't Katherine and I hadn't resolved what I felt for Katherine. And I almost ruined her life because I was so stupid not to see it."

"You didn't know your blood would create the sire bond with her and you can't be blamed for her indecision about the three of you." He only hummed and closed his eyes. I was telling him the truth he couldn't be blamed for the sire bond. He had told her the right thing and told Elena to make herself happy and when all was said and done, Elena had chosen to do just that and found it in Enzo of all people.

"Why am I not good enough," he rasped out jarring me out of my musings, my fingers stilling in his hair.

"Good enough for what, Damon," I asked resuming my trek softly.

"Why do the women I love have to love my brother," he said reaching up and capturing my hand. His hand felt like ice but they were soft.

"I don't love you Damon," I said but instead of taking my hand out of his I gripped it tightly.

"Liar," he said trying to smirk. He coughed then and his whole body shook. He shifted and the cotton sheets sounded crackly and brittle from the sweat they absorbed.

"But that doesn't change the fact that you love my brother," he said when his fit was done.

"I don't love him either," I said and again I gripped his hand tighter.

"Miss Bennett here I thought you were supposed to comfort a dying man by telling him the truth," he said smirking slightly and just for a second I could see the glint of his healthier self.

"Damon, technically you're a dying vampire and usually you're the one that is supposed to do all that 'truth shall set ye free' stuff," I said removing my hand from his and pushing his bangs out of his eyes. They were silver now and they betrayed the pain that was coursing through his body. My heart stopped and I could feel the sting of tears well up inside. I would not cry. I was done crying because since this rollercoaster of a supernatural destiny had started, I had shed an untold amount of tears. Crying never solved my problems and it was not going to help Damon.

"But that is the beauty of me, Songbird, even when I speak the truth everyone thinks it's a lie and when I speak lies people think it's the truth," he said gazing up at me.

"Really? Here, I thought everything that came out of your mouth was bullshit. I had no idea you were capable of speaking the truth without being struck by lightning first," I said tracing his eyebrow ridge.

"No my witchy goddess, it was being set on fire by you and you can lie all you want but you always knew when I told the truth," he said.

"I always saw the truth in your eyes," I said trailing my fingers on his cheek bone.

"Really and what are my eyes telling you right now," he said. We stared at each other and like always his emotions slammed into me with so much force that I was breathless for a second.

"I can't love you Damon," I said softly to him.

"But you do and you love him too," he growled at me. He turned his head away from me and pursed his lips. The audacity of him to fight with me even to his dying breath made me narrow my eyes at him.

"You two are supposed to love and take care of each other first. I will not be Katherine or Elena. I am not a prize for you to fight over just so you two can force me to make a choice to see who the better brother is. If I choose everything will end in hatred like it did with Katherine and with Elena. You two will drift further apart or even succeed in killing each other. I respect both of you too much to see that happen. That is why I can't love you or him," I said. I breathed in a shaky breath willing the tears to go away.

"But why am I not good enough," he said turning his head and pierced me with his eyes. They were liquid mercury slushing and swirling with his emotions.

"It's not that you're not good enough Damon. You are fantastic the way you are. He is fantastic the way he is. You two are a double headed coin and the fucked up universe we live in has decided that you two should be held in the palm of the same woman," I said.

"And here I thought that we were past the stage of blaming the universe for our bad luck and taking responsibility for our choices," he said.

"You and I both know that loving someone isn't our choice to make. And I don't blame the universe I just learned that fate and destiny are inescapable. That's why I want you to always love each other above me," I said.

"You are horrible at this comforting thing. You should go put on your naughty nurse outfit and give me a sponge bath," he sneered.

"Damon," I huffed out even dying the vampire still wanted to get in my pants. He and I just stared at each other. He and I would always do this contest of wills before we attacked each other like two dogs in heat.

"God forbid you show a little compassion towards me," he sneered again.

"Damon you want me to pity you and I will never pity you. And I know for a fact that you know what love looks like when born out of pity," I said passing my thumb over his nose and down his lips. I saw the hurt that flashed in his eyes. Elena's compassion had turned into pity for him and she felt that that kind of love could fix him but like for Stefan that kind of love could only serve as duct tape for the gaping wounds that existed inside of them. He blinked the hurt away.

"Well if you're not going to give me a sponge bath than the least you can do is sing to me and comfort me that way."

"Okay, what would you like to hear," I smiled at him slightly.

"Anything," he said closing his eyes. He stretched his arms and wrapped them around my waist and burrowed deeper into my lap. Damon had always told me that when his head was between my legs he was at peace. I would roll my eyes and say 'Cute Damon but we aren't going to have sex.' I thought for a second and picked something.

_At last  
>My love has come along<br>My lonely days are over  
>And life is like a song<em>

_Oh yeah yeah  
>At last<em>

_The skies above are blue  
>My heart was wrapped up in clover<br>The night I looked at you_

_I found a dream, that I could speak to  
>A dream that I can call my own<br>I found a thrill to press my cheek to  
>A thrill that I have never known<em>

_Oh yeah yeah  
>You smiled, you smiled<br>Oh and then the spell was cast  
>And here we are in heaven<br>for you are mine..._

_At Last_

The entire time I felt him mouth the words into my thigh.

"Why won't you let me love you," he said softly.

"Haven't you been listening? I love you too much to hurt you. And I could never do that to you or Stefan," I said to him. He sighed at me content that I finally said it.

"Why am I not enough," he asked me again softly.

"I love every bit of you even your psychotic break downs. I love that you can be selfish and selfless at the same damn time. I love your sense of humor. I love your fearlessness that just because you will it means that it can and will be done. I love that every woman you have loved felt nothing but cherished. But I am a selfish bitch and I want you and him because he is different. But I love you equally. I don't search out whatever is lacking in you in him and vice-verse. I love you and him the same because of the men that you are, so different and so alike. And because he owns half my heart just like you do, I am not worthy of either of you—"

"I never want to hear you say that again," he said growling and hugging me tighter.

"Say what," I said startled at his interruption.

"That you aren't worthy of either of us," he said. I smiled down sadly.

"But it's the truth. You deserve a woman that can love you by yourself not a selfish and greedy bitch that wants her cake and eat it to. I have always told myself the truth Damon unlike some people I know that I love both and I want both of you but I know that would break something so precious inside both of you if you're made to compete again."

"And what is that" he said almost silently.

"The love that you both have for each other. You two are brothers and nothing not a woman or your father or even the level of stupidity you two have a knack for when it comes to common sense should come between that love. You two have a true love and I would be stupid, foolish, and evil to try to come between you two. And you two would be stupid, foolish and blind to allow anyone to come between you."

"Gross you make it sound like I'm in love with my brother," he said smiling into my thigh.

"No asshat but you do love him," I said smacking his head.

"God abusing the dying the man by hitting him and calling him names," he chuckled.

"Sorry but sometimes you bring the violence out of me," I said combing his hair again.

"And I wouldn't want you any other way," he said truthfully. I snorted at him. We stayed silent again for a few minutes. He started to cough again and he gripped me tighter. I rubbed circles in his back trying to soothe his pain. He seized up and stopped breathing. Pain flooded through me in that moment. I wanted to cry, to throw up, to break something all at once. But most of all I wanted him to live. He didn't make me love him just so he could leave me. I took the knife he always kept near his bed and cut my wrist and I let the blood wash down his throat. He started panting and he grabbed my arm and bit into it. He drank until he settled down and I was feeling light headed.

His eyes popped opened when the veins receded back under his skin and I could see the blue had returned to them. He smiled at me and took my hand and kissed the palm.

"Does the body good," he managed to get out in a low harsh rasp. I smiled and gasped out the pain that was crushing my heart.

"Shh let me sing some more for you so you can rest," I said and I put my hand over his eyes and closed them. I hummed till I found the right song in my head.

_We'll meet again,  
>Don't know where, don't know when,<br>But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day.  
>Keep smiling through,<br>Just like you always do,  
>Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds, far away.<br>So will you please say hello,  
>To the folks that I know,<br>Tell them I won't be long,  
>They'll be happy to know that as you saw me go<br>I was singing this song._

_We'll meet again,  
>Don't know where, don't know when,<br>But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day.  
>We'll meet again,<br>Don't know where, don't know when,  
>But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day.<br>Keep smiling through,  
>Just like you always do,<br>Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds, far away.  
>So will you please say hello<br>To the folks that I know,  
>Tell them I won't be long,<br>They'll be happy to know that as you saw me go  
>I was singing this song.<br>We'll meet again,  
>Don't know where, don't know when.<br>But I know well meet again, some sunny day._

I felt that his heart rate had settled down and his breath had evened out. He was asleep. I wiped sweat from his brow and traced his peaceful features. No matter how much of a demon he tried to twist himself into, he could never hide the angel from me.

"Damon you aren't Prince Charming on his white horse come to rescue the princess in the tower. You are the prince that lives in the darkness that does anything and everything to keep safe that which you hold most dear. You are my Dark Prince and I love you," I said letting my tears fall on his face.

I lifted his head and slid from underneath him and placed the pillow under his head. I walked out of the room and into the living room of the boarding house. I heard a gasp that came from Elena and I looked at her and shook my head no.

"Go in there and sit with him," I told her and she scurried off towards his room. I walked to the window and looked out. The sun had the audacity to shine while a piece of my heart was dying, while I could feel myself bleeding to death. I saw Jeremy move to comfort me before Stefan could reach me. He wrapped me in his big strong arms and I buried my nose in his shirt. I tried to breathe his scent in but all I could smell was Damon dying. I tried to focus my inner mind to see Damon smiling but all I could see was his body seizing up as if he had taken his last breath.

_"Emily," I said in my head. _

_Yes she said. _

_"I once asked you to save Jeremy because I loved him and you did. I know Damon has been less than stellar but I love him and I need to find the cure," I said pleading with her._ She became silent. Several minutes passed before I was taken into the Other Side. _The boarding house was awash in blues, blacks and whites. Footsteps echoed from the hallway and a figure came into my view. _

_She was still beautiful even in death; so much like Elena but so unlike her at the same time._

_"Katherine," I breathed out. _

_"Hello little witch," she smirked and crossed her arms under her breast. _

_"Come to gloat over Damon's death," I growled. She smiled sardonically at me and laughed. _

_"Oh sweetie, you talked so much about your morals and your dignity while I was dying the second time that I almost believed you weren't in love with Damon or Stefan but in the end you were just like me. Even more than my pale imitation carbon copy walking around," she said. Her heels clicked in the emptiness of the room as she walked over to a painting and examined it. _

_"Katherine why are you here," I asked gritting my teeth. _

_"Well my dear friend Emily asked me to come help you," she said smiling innocently. _

_"Emily asked you to come help me," I repeated blinking my surprise._

_"Yes she told me it was the least I could do since I sent her to the pyre by outing her as a witch," she said flouncing down onto the sofa. She landed perfectly still and examined her clothing. She began to pick imaginary lint off her black pants. _

_"Well," I said after a few seconds. _

_"Well what," she said looking at me like she had forgotten that I was there. _

_"Are you going to help me?"_

_"Yes but you need to do me a favor first," she smiled. _

_"I need you to let me possess you for a little bit so I can talk to Stefan."_

_"What," I said. _

_"Don't worry I will leave once I said what I have to say to him and besides you will be able to hear and see everything I say and do. And if you're still worried, Emily will kick me out of your body," she said looking at me bored. I was speechless for a few seconds._

_"Clock's ticking," she said. I made my decision._

_"Yes go ahead," I sighed. She clapped her hands as she jumped up from the couch. She walked over to me and grabbed my hands. _

Once she took control, I could see everything but I felt like when you are trapped in a nightmare and you are trying to will your body to wake up and move. She moved out of Jeremy's arms and walked towards Stefan and grabbed his hand. She leaned up on her tip toes and whispered she needed to talk to him. He nodded and grabbed her hand and led her towards his room.

"What did you want to talk about," Stefan said leaning against the door. She came up to him and placed a hand on his cheek and he responded by nuzzling into it for a few seconds and then he narrowed his eyes at her. She smiled at him innocently. He gripped her throat.

"Pesky thing that familiar bond," she said clicking her tongue.

"Which one are you," Stefan said.

"None," she said and he squeezed tighter.

"Give Bonnie back her body," he said shaking her slightly.

"When I took over Elena's body—"

"Katherine," he growled.

"I wanted so badly to know what it felt like to be loved by you," she continued as if she didn't hear him, "but you had already stopped loving her like that. She was reduced to your friend and your friend had been upgraded to the love of your life," she said.

"Why are you here," he growled again. He didn't want to lose control because this was Bonnie.

"Well for you as always," she said and she raised her hand to his face again.

"Katherine I don't have time for this. Damon is dying and he needs Bonnie," he said. He removed his hand and passed it through his hair.

"Yeah yeah someone is always dying in this little group," she said turning around and walking over to his bed.

"Did you ever tell Miss Bennett or my squeal that while I was living here you and I had sex right here?" She passed her hand over the bedspread and smoothed out the wrinkle.

"Bonnie knows, yes. Elena, I have no idea, her and I weren't really friends when you were around."

"So what happened? Why she and not I or the dull as dishwater twin?"

"Katherine we had this conversation already while you were living here."

"No you told me that you had moved on but then you slept with me."

"Ok here is the truth. There is the thing about you compelling me to love you but the biggest thing was what you did to Damon. For a hundred and forty-five years you let him believe you were in that tomb. What you did to my brother was disgusting and unforgivable." One second she growled at him and then the other she sat again perfectly still like a cat ready to pounce.

"You're so damn selfless with that stupid brother of yours when all he was, was selfish. Did you know he didn't want me to turn you? He was willing to let you die like a normal mortal," she sneered and the effect on Bonnie's face made her doll like features appear as a pouting child. Stefan scanned Bonnie's face and chuckled. Katherine did not have control over Bonnie's feature to give him those death glares that she was so fond of giving.

"It would have saved me this lifetime of guilt as a ripper," he shrugged.

"I love that and hate that about you. What's a few dead humans? They would have died anyway." Stefan sighed and shook his head in disappointment.

"You will never get it Katherine and I don't have time to explain. My brother, the one you threw to the side like a broken toy, is dying and I need to be there with him." They stared at each other.

"You didn't finish answering my question. Why her and why not the fair princess Elena?"

"Elena lied to me about being in love with me. I asked her never to lie to me and two seconds after I broke up with her, she went and had sex with Damon. Then she tried to mend my broken heart and lead me on while she was telling Damon she loved him. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate her like I did you for what you did between us. She didn't mean to do it but she hadn't stopped herself from doing it either. And quite honestly now that she's a vampire she reminds me a little bit too much of you and that is a problem for me."

"Didn't help she pitched a fit when she found out you had slept with Bonnie during the summer."

"Well that is between Bonnie and her because I was single and she was single. We did what single people do."

"So her also sleeping with Damon at the same time didn't faze you at all then?"

"Katherine," he sighed.

"No I want to hear this because you hate me for leading on your brother and you hate Elena for leading you on—"

"Bonnie never led me or Damon on. She had sex with Damon because she was a single girl that lusted after a guy she found attractive. I wasn't her boyfriend. I never once told her I loved her in a romantic sense during that time. She never compelled me to love her. We aren't under a spell that draws each other in and wreaks havoc. For Damon she isn't stringing him along because he is a good fuck and she isn't under the influence of a sire bond. She offered to break the familiar bond and Damon and I refused because we knew she needs the protection and we owed it to her for all her sacrifice in the last two years. I love her because she has never once lied to me in terms of her feelings. She also refused to make a decision between us because she didn't want to destroy the relationship my brother and I have. She wants Damon and me to love each other and therefore she removed herself from the situation by dating Jeremy."

"Little brother. You know she cares for him a great deal."

"Yes I know. Your point?"

"Just saying, you could lose her to him and I'm curious if little brother knows how she feels about the two of you."

"Yes I know I could lose her to him and he could actually make her happy and give her the normality she wants so badly. And to answer your question, she has told him."

"So you love her because she is a paragon of truth, justice and mercy blah blah blah," Katherine said in a bored tone.

"Katherine she is everything you weren't and everything I wanted Elena to be."

"And here I thought Elena was the Mary-Sue of this epic fairytale."

"Katherine, Bonnie asked me never to put her on that pedestal like I did with Elena because she says she will only end up disappointing me and she values me too much to do that. She and I respect each other as friends. God she even respects Damon as a friend." Katherine looked at him as he spoke about Bonnie. She saw the small smile that played on his lips as if he was remembering pure happiness. She saw the way his green eyes lightened with that memory so far away. That look on his face was what she always wanted Stefan to have for her. In the end, it was the Bennett witch that had won. She got the man that Katherine loved and the man Katherine lusted for and Katherine could feel the love that she had for both of them. She never lied to them about that. Katherine could feel the heart break that Bonnie had to see two people she loved and respected hurt because she would not let them love her.

_"Katherine do you see now why I'm not like you or Elena? I love them too much to see them hurt each other again over a woman. While yes it is flattering to have two men compete for your affections, it also breaks my heart because they are brothers and they should love each other first, not me. I'm not their prize, Katherine. I don't want them to only find worth in loving me. They are both gentle men and beautiful creatures that have found themselves distorted by betrayal and jealousy. They both deserve better than that," Bonnie whispered in her mind. _Katherine sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Kiss me," she said to Stefan.

"What?"

"Kiss me and make me believe you love me and I will tell you where to find Maxfield," Katherine said standing up and walking towards him.

"That's why Bonnie let you possess her."

"Yes and time is ticking," Katherine said. Katherine would always be Katherine even in death. He sighed feeling so old. Then he looked at her and caressed Bonnie's cheek. He hadn't touched her since this whole cluster fuck with the travelers and the Augustine society started. The last time he kissed her and made love to her was when she had told them she was going to start dating Jeremy again. He wet his lips and pressed the chastest of kisses to Bonnie's lips. Katherine felt the burning of his love for Bonnie in his lips. He lingered on Bonnie's lips and Katherine felt the full force of his passion, the fierce protectiveness and the tender cherishment he had for this girl. It made her dream, in that moment of a life they could have had if they were different people. A tear slipped from Bonnie's eye. All too soon Stefan ended the kiss.

"Thank you," Katherine said a little breathlessly.

"You're welcome. Now where can I find Maxfield."

"He is at his back up warehouse in the industrial district in Norfolk," she walked to his desk and wrote down the address.

"Katherine for what it's worth, I could have loved you because I do admire your survival but that would have been in a different life." She nodded at him.

"Thank you Stefan. I would love to say this was nice but now I need to leave because Emily is starting to get pissy at me for being in her granddaughter for too long. Goodbye Stefan and don't forget I'm always watching," she winked at him and he watched as Bonnie closed her eyes and let a dark wisp of air escape through her mouth. After a few seconds, Bonnie blinked her eyes and shook her head.

"She's something," I said trying out my mouth again.

"If we had a nuclear apocalypse, the only ones to survive would be the roaches and Katherine if she hadn't been turned human," he said gripping the paper in his hands. I looked at him and made my decision.

"I am going with you," I said straitening my jacket.

"No Damon needs you here," he said.

"Yes but I put him to sleep in a nice dream for a little while and I want to talk to that asshole," I said. I walked past him and down to my room. I walked into the closet and there on the floor was the safe. I entered the combo on the electronic key pad and the door clicked opened with a hiss. Inside were my usual papers; the deeds to my homes and other important papers.

After becoming the anchor, I lost my magic and since the universe was a bitch, I decided to hide weapons in here. I had bullets from Connor Jordan's stash for vampires, regular human bullets and bullets I had made in regards to witches. There on the bottom was my father's SIG-Sauer P226 and my Glock 26. Rudy had taught me how to use them and his M40A1 sniper rifle because since he was away a lot he wanted me to know how to defend myself. The SIG and the Glock, I understood but the sniper rifle was always a mystery but I was grateful he taught me because then he would spend time with me.

I grabbed the SIG and checked the clip and found that I had nearly a full clip. So I engaged the safety and grabbed a clip from each stack of bullets and closed the safe. I walked to the library and found my purse and stuff the clips and the gun inside. I found Stefan and Enzo waiting for me by the door; I quirked my eyebrow at them.

"I learned never to argue with you because I know you can take care of yourself," he said turning to the door and opening it. We walked to Damon's camaro and jumped in.

X

We made it to the warehouse in less than 30 minutes with Stefan driving like a bat out of hell. The street was lined with warehouses that had their shutters down; old newspapers and garbage lay on the concrete.

"Number 43 should be right over there," I said pointing to a warehouse on the left. He stopped the car a bit away from the door. We got out and I grabbed his arm.

"Stefan can I question him," I said. He looked at me with surprise and was confused.

"Please," I pleaded.

"Fine," he sighed.

We entered the warehouse and Stefan motioned for me to be quiet. He told me to stay there so he and Enzo could take care of the security that Maxfield had. I had to acknowledge at the irony that here I was waiting for vampires to kill humans so I could find a cure to save a vampire. I know my ancestors are hissing, spitting and cursing my name. But I knew it deep in my bones that what the Augustine Society was doing was evil. Can we really say that a vampire deserved to be tortured day in and day out to unlock the mysteries of the magic that reanimates them through science?

When Enzo had taken the research from Maxfield's lab, I chanced a look at his personal logs and found that Maxfield unlike Elena's father wanted to sell products such as creams and elixirs to completely stop aging and create immortals without the draw backs of vampirism for a price. They didn't want to fight vampires they wanted to capture; study and cut them open to capture the essence of mortality and immortality.

_Our Business is life itself._

It was sickening. How the fuck did my life turn into a video game about the dead coming back to life? Right, no the dead came back to life through magic and now science was trying to imitate that folly. I sent a quick prayer to the spirits to let them know that if I had to run around and fight monsters like Nemesis then I was done. I would not infiltrate a facility that was run by a homicidal AI like the Red Queen and I would not be experimented on.

Damon had shared with me the things he experienced in those years in that cell under Whitmore House. I didn't cry for him because he would not have wanted my tears but my heart broke. It was evil what they were doing. I at one time had been like most witches that disliked vampires but I never wished they're complete destruction. But the people I loved were among the undead. So I learned tolerance and then finally acceptance. Damon had been responsible for that.

He rationalized that since it was Esther who created vampires in the first place it should be her to pay for her crimes. He had said that nature had already adapted to the existence of vampires the minute they were created and therefore the balance was never broken. So Esther and the spirits seeking the destruction of all vampires was only a way for Esther to save face with the spirits to avoid taking full responsibility for her vanity and the spirits wanting their rules to be followed without exception. So why did he have to lose his life because someone else didn't want to be responsible for what they did? Why Indeed? He and I talked about that as we lay in bed sharing a bottle of Elijah Craig between us and by then we were too drunk to discuss it further.

That had been the last time he and I were in bed together before tonight.

Stefan and Enzo came back after a few minutes of me silently musing about Damon and his ridiculous rationalizations. He motioned for me to follow and I saw Maxfield seated at a metal desk. I reached into my bag and pulled out of my gun. I glanced at it in my hands. I felt like was out of my body as if I had been possessed again. I was really going to do this. I was going to torture a man for information about the Augustine Society and the cure. Then I was going to take his life.

Monsters make monsters of us all.

Stefan turned his head and saw the gun and widened his eyes and gave me a disapproving look. I quirked my eyebrows at him daring him to say anything to me. He knew that Rudy had taught me how to shoot but I never explained that I owned guns however illegal it was for me to own them.

I whispered very quietly, "Stef, I have no magic and you and Damon can't always be there. And you and I know that the supernatural world will never leave us alone." He sighed. I could almost see the things he wanted to say to me scroll across his eyes. He gave that wounded look like I said something that disappointed him. I stopped him with a hand on his arm. I kissed him on the cheek and walked past him into the office.

Maxfield was there sitting shuffling papers and I saw in the corner he was shredding papers. I cleared my throat and he looked up and his pupils dilated in terror. He knew I was friends with Elena therefore I was something supernatural or a thrall. Then he saw Stefan and Enzo behind me.

"How…How…did you find me," he stuttered out recognizing Enzo.

"You've wonder off the path and you found where the wild things are but you never once wondered what else existed out there besides vampires. You know for a scientist that isn't very thorough research," I said tapping the gun on my thigh as paced in front of his desk. I saw him moving his hand.

"Ah, I wouldn't move if I were you," I said pointing the gun at him. I felt the grip bite into my sweaty hands.

"Who…who are you," he asked as he put his hands palms down on the desk.

"Me, I'm just a girl. It isn't me you have to worry about," and I saw him glance in Stefan's direction who was leaning against the wall blocking him in and then in Enzo's.

"You see doctor did you ever wonder why the ripper virus was named as such." He stayed quiet. "It was named for the Ripper of Monterey," I saw him inhale because he knew the story, probably from the Society's archives or some such nonsense. "Red Death visited that town and left the mangled bodies of the inhabitants. You are already acquainted with subject 12144," I said inclining my head towards Enzo.

"Dr. Maxfield meet the Ripper of Monterey, subject 21051's brother," I said acknowledging Stefan. His face went stark white and I could see the blood drain away. He looked as if he were going to have a heart attack.

"Wha…what do you want," he stammered.

"I want the cure for the ripper virus laced with werewolf venom. Also I want to know who else knows about the Augustine Society's true research," I said walking around his desk. He swiveled the chair to face me. He was silent. He looked at me as if he were assessing how much damage I could inflict on him.

"No," he said defiantly; gathering up all his courage. He was testing me so I pointed the gun at his shoulder. I felt my hand jerk back as the bullet exited the chamber, pass into him and the shot ringing in my ears. He howled in pain. He fell forward and clutched his shoulder. I watched him rock back and forth in the chair crying in pain. I tapped him on the head and when he didn't acknowledge me, I placed the gun under his chin and forced him to look at me. His eyes were bloodshot now and his face was crimson and sweaty with agony.

"I want the cure doctor," I said to him and I saw him slide his eyes to the glass refrigerator to the right of me in the corner.

"Enzo it's in the unit next to me. Stef search his notes to make sure it's the right one," I said as I sat on the corner of the desk. They searched in silence comparing the notes on his laptop to the vials in the unit and they agreed on the right one. Enzo gripped it in his hand and turned to walk away.

"Enzo make sure he calls his brother," I said.

"Of course, love," he said and I could hear the smile in his voice. I listened until I couldn't hear his footsteps.

"We only wanted to create something to fight—"

"Ah, don't ever lie to me. I hate lying. I read and listened to your notes, I know that you and the society unlike Grayson Gilbert wanted to take the research in order to sell products to the wealthy. And I know for a fact that you wanted to create immortals without the drawbacks of vampirism fo—"

"We just wanted humanity to have the upper hand—"

"Don't try to make what you and the society were doing as something for the sake of humanity."

"We wanted to cure diseases and cancer—"

"For a price, doctor. You wanted to bottle immortality and sell it to the highest bidder. And that doctor is greed. Vampires at least were created out of love; the love and good intentions of a mother for her children." He looked at me questioningly as if he was interested.

"I'm surprised that you and the society don't know about the origins of vampires. Did you really think they were anomalies and genetic mutations?" I saw him blink and I saw the answer in his eyes.

"Doctor, vampires are the result of magic." I heard him snort half in pain and half in disbelief.

"It's true. Magic is real and I am not talking about it as a way to explain something that is a natural phenomenon and I am not talking about miracles. Until recently I was one of a few people that could manipulate the natural world with a few words. Now I just see the dead and trust me there is something after this life." He continued to stare at me and I stared at him and he shifted painfully in his chair.

"Stef can you get him something for the pain and make sure he doesn't bleed out before he answers the rest of my question. And doctor don't make me shoot you again. I didn't enjoy it but it had to be done," I said. Stefan left the office and returned a few moments later with the stuff to remove the bullet and a shot of morphine. I moved out of his way and Stefan set to work.

As Stefan worked I looked over at the laptop and read the research he had been conducting. The things he wrote about were cold and evil but I had seen pure naked evil and he was just an amateur. Oh the irony.

"I want to know who else knows about the Society's true research and before you say it was only the Whitmore Foundation providing you with money, I'm going to have to call bullshit on that," I said turning the laptop that invoices on the screen. His eyes had glazed over slightly but he was still coherent.

"What is this supposed to prove," he said looking at the screen.

"You see when we took all your stuff from your lab and apartment. I noticed this logo," and I pointed to a sun rising from a DNA double helix, "in some of your personal effects. So I want you to tell me who they are," I said.

"They are just a group that wanted to bid for some of the vaccines we developed," he said.

"That isn't what I asked," I said. I grabbed his hand and then shot the gun towards the wall and placed the barrel to his hand and heard the skin sizzle.

"Arghh…..okay…okay. They are the Dyad Group and I'm telling the truth they just wanted to fund some of the vaccines for their pharmaceutical company. They don't know the origins of the vaccines," he said through clenched teeth.

"Is there anyone else," I asked.

"No no the society and the Whitmore were the only ones that knew about the vampires," he said.

"Thank you, see that wasn't so hard,"

I turned back to laptop and I lost myself in his words. After a few minutes I was startled by Stefan's cell ring. He took it out of his pocket and glanced at it. He slid it over to me and I looked at the id and saw Damon's number.

"Hello my Dark Prince," I said in greeting.

_"I like the sound of that_," I could hear his health returning and the smile in his voice.

"You sound better," I said.

_"Ah surviving another near death experience and knowing the girl that I love loves me back, has a way of making you bright eyed and bushy tailed."_

"Who said I loved you."

_"Who said it was you that I loved."_

"Oooo, sassy. You are feeling better."

_"Let me speak to my brother."_ I passed the phone over and I continued to scan the notes.

"hmmm….hmmm…you don't need to tell me that….. I won't this time." He hung up the phone.

Dr. Maxfield looked at me when Stefan hung up the phone. I stared at him. This was it. Sometimes I thought the compassionate part of me had died that day when I woke up after pulling up the veil and sacrificing myself to bring Jeremy back.

I woke up that day still alive but broken.

We may have won against Silas but I still lost and now I here and now I would become the monster by taking this man's life. I steeled and steadied my nerves. This man could not be allowed to continue his work and therefore he had to die. I stood up. I looked into his eyes. I could see the plead form in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"No wai—" and the shot rang out.

How did my life get this way?

A/N

Disclaimers: I don't own the Dyad Group that belongs to Orphan Black. I am a huge fan of that show. They are relevant but not till my third installment of this series, Eka-ge-kama: Dark Horse. If you recognized the part where Bonnie tells the Wes that he wondered off the path that is taken from Annie's speech to Owen in Being Human UK.

And I know Alice isn't in the games and my husband would flay me alive if he read that part since he is a big fan of the games. Anyway lets remember who Bonnie even if her boyfriend Jeremy is a big gamer I doubt she would care to differentiate between the movies and the games.

ALSO IF YOU ARE READING THIS FOR THE SECOND TIME I AM SORRY BUT I FELT THIS WAS A BETTER INTRODUCTION TO THIS FIC. I MOVED THE ORIGINAL INTRO TO THE FIRST CHAPTER.

READ REVIEW ENJOY


	2. Chapter 1

A/N

Disclaimer: Don't own TVD just like to play in the universe.

STOP!

IF YOU ARE RETURNING TO THIS FIC GO BACK TO THE INTRODUCTION AND READ IT. IT IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. WHAT YOU READ FOR THE INTRODUCTION IS NOW CHAPTER 1.

IF YOU ALREADY READ THE NEW INTRODUCTION PLEASE CONTINUE.

DON'T HATE ME for how Bonnie acted in the introduction. I know it isn't something people are used to but I promise you there is a reason. Just keep in mind that quote from Ghandi.

* * *

><p>Chapter 1<p>

Elena Gilbert was dead.

Not only was she dead she was undead. Everything Bonnie, Stefan, Damon, Uncle John, Isobel, Alaric her mother, her father and so many others sacrificed their lives for had been all for naught. She was now a vampire and not just any vampire she was a sired vampire, a desperate sired vampire. Damon had told her to make herself happy and she had tried to plead and beg to him that she truly loved him but he never listened to her anyway, never has, never will.

Her friends were on the outs with her because of her betrayal of Stefan. Her brother wanted to kill her because of his hunter's mark. Stefan hated her but still loved her just as much. Damon wanted her to love him so desperately that he had completely broken his brother's heart for her. Damon hadn't been the one to bring utter despair and misery to his brother's life, it was she. She had taken someone she professed to love so deeply and crushed his soul.

Then Stefan had told her "You don't know what I look like when I'm not in love with you."

And all she could do was run away from him and his pain. So she walked back to town. How had her life gone this way? She couldn't admit to herself the true answer. But she knew what happened to her world. She herself was the cause not just of the chaos that ensued because of her status as the doppelganger but she had taken her relationships for granted. She had become spoiled.

Look at her relationship with Bonnie. Her best friend had given nearly everything to her; her mother's life, her grandmother's life; her magic and very closely her life. Caroline had died because her crazy ancestor of a whore wanted to play a game with the Salvatore brothers. Matt had given up his sister's life and her rebirth for her sake. Tyler had his curse activated and then turned into a hybrid and sired to a power hungry mommy and daddy issue having tyrant like Klaus. Her brother, the last of her family had died chasing after Damon and now he was a supernatural vampire hunter that would probably lose his sanity. Her biological parents had sacrificed their happiness for her sake and died to keep her alive.

She wished she had the courage like she had on Wickery Bridge albeit that was induced by the hunter's curse but it was courage, foolish stupid courage to end it all.

So she walked into town and she found herself at her father's office. Elena couldn't help shaking her head at the irony that a place of healing was used to kill. However to Elena it had been justified because the tomb vampires wanted nothing short of a bloodbath against the founding families. She liked to think that her father would have been proud of her but then she remembered that she had asked Bonnie to remove the spell on Jonathan Gilbert's watch in order to save Stefan, the love of her life and to a lesser extent Damon.

But Bonnie was the good witch and the true patron goddess of the town and she hadn't removed the spell and the tomb vampires were made into dust along with Mayor Lockwood which was an accident and Carolina getting hurt in that car accident. Elena had to smirk at the stupid games destiny, God, the universe, karma or whoever was playing with her. So her father would have never been proud of her. Another relationship she had failed at.

But now she stood in front of the red door and she missed going in to see her father; watching as he treated the children in town; helping Alicia file away patient records; dragging her father to lunch with her, buttering him up to ask him for money or the car to go to the mall in Norfolk on the weekend.

Her heart cracked as she broke the lock and knob on the door. She remembered she would also come here for advice. She was a daddy's girl. She remembered that she wanted to be a doctor like him when she was little. She walked past the reception area then down the hall past the patient rooms and stood in front of the basement door. Down there several people, vampires like her had been burned to death by her Uncle/father John.

She pushed it opened and looked down. The stairs on this side weren't the burnt sticks that were the ones that led to the alley behind the office but they were still burnt. She thought the smell of smoke would still linger but it just smelled dry. Some of the books in the Salvatore manor had that smell and so did something else. Klaus had smelled that way, the tomb vampires smelled that way when Anna had dragged her into the tomb, Katherine had that smell like that when she was slowly drying out in the tomb but how could a desiccated vampire body be still down here after nearly a year had passed by?

She sniffed again and she caught the trail and it led her straight to a burnt bookcase. The smell was stronger there. So she used all of her vampire strength to pull the bookcase and she watched as it fell down and crumbled into blackened charred jigsaw pieces. She looked up and she saw a corridor and she was hit by a memory.

She had only been three and her ball had escaped her and rolled into this very corridor. Elena watched her much smaller body chase after the ball as it bounced once against the door to her left and then came to a stop when a hand had gripped it from the bars at the bottom of the iron door.

_"Hello poppet and who are you," said a light British voice. And then a face came out of the darkness through the bars. He had dark hair and dark eyes and a nice smile._

_"Elena," said her childish little voice smiling back at the man. _

_"What a beautiful name Elena for a beautiful girl and how old are you?"_

_"Three and a half. Daddy says I'm old enough to go to school soon."_

_"Well isn't that peachy," and he groaned out in pain._

_"Are you hurt," she said inching closer to the big hand. _

_"Yes just healing up a bit." He groaned again._

_"You want me to get Daddy to help? He's a doctor he helps people."_

_The man scoffed and said, "A regular butcher is what your father is."_

_"Wha?"_

_"Nothing poppet. No I don't want you to get your father. I will be fine I've been here for twenty years I will survive this."_

_Her furrowed her little eyebrows and then smiled. _

_"Okay you wanna play ball with me? Daddy is busy and so is Alicia and everyone says I keep getting in the way."_

_"Sure I will," he said rolling the ball to her and she watched as it hit her feet gently. She giggled as she chased after it. She rolled it back and he caught it swiftly._

_"Whas your name mister?"_

_"Lorenzo but you can call me Enzo, poppet." _

_"Tell me about yourself Elena. What kinds of things do you like to do?"_

_"Oh I like to draw and play with my friends. We like to dress up and put on makeup and we play Barbies. Daddy got me a Barbie jeep for Christmas but Carolina broke it."_

_"What is Barbie?"_

_"You don't know Barbie?"_

_"No I'm not a little girl, poppet."_

_"She is a dolly and I have all her clothes and her makeup and her house and her car. I can dress her up and make her do anything I want. Mommy says that on my birfday I can have a Barbie party."_

_"Well that is fantastic, poppet."_

_"Will you come to my party?"_

_"I wish I could poppet but I can't leave without your father's permission."_

_"Ok lemme go ask."_

_"No," and he said it with so much force that she got scared for a second and she gasped._

_"I'm sorry poppet I didn't mean to scare you. You don't need to ask your father now. You can just wait a little while longer and this will be our little secret."_

_Her little head tilted and she thought and then she nodded, "Okay Enzo."_

_"Elena where are you," Alicia's voice came from the top of the stairs._

_"Oh I've got to go," she said picking up her ball. _

_"Bye Enzo."_

_"Goodbye Elena and remember this is our little secret."_ And with that Elena watched as her little body ran out of the corridor and up the stairs. And she did keep it a secret. She had kept it so secret she had forgotten about the man in the basement. She was a three year old and that week Bonnie's mom had abandoned her.

Elena looked at the opening of the corridor and back at the iron door at the other end where Enzo had been. She looked into the room on the left and found that it had video equipment and a lab table. What the hell was all this shit?

Then she went into the room on the right and found that it was a study with leather bound journals like Stefan's and video cases. She pushed the door and walked in. On the desk, there was a leather bound journal sitting open and a blue DIC pen sitting in its crease. She walked closer to the desk and made out the lettering and found that the handwriting was her father's. Her eyes started to water.

She went to the book and picked it up. And Read:

_Subject 12144 was infected with the weaponized Ebola diluted in a solution of vervain. I hoped that the aggressive nature engineered into the bacterium and the added vervain would allow the virus to take root in the subject's blood but Subject 12144's healing factor has increased beyond the normal level. Wes assured me that the solution would have worked had we gotten the vervain solution correct in proportion to the subject's healing factor. We will try again when Wes returns from Ontario with more founding from Leeke and Dyad. _

_The society has lost significant backing now that James and Lily were killed by the enemy. Sarah has taken away the founding in hopes to spare Aaron his parents' fate. I wish the same could be said about my family. I fear for Elena and what being a doppelganger means? I fear that the enemy will come for her and take her life and give them more power over us. I would give anything to never let her know such evil and such pain but sometimes I fear it may be in vain. However I still have hope that someday we will have a significant weapon to use against these monsters. _

Elena looked at the top of the page and saw that it was dated the day before her parents died. She continued to read other journals and when she came to a particular section she nearly threw up. No no no her mind screamed. This could not be her father's handwriting or her father's words. Her father the man that had taken care of her hurts with loving hands, had used those same hands to cut, maim, dissect people, people like her.

She lost her lunch; the food and blood she had consumed earlier mixing into a pile of blech. She moved to the corner of the office and cried. After an hour she smelled that dry smell again like old books but this time it was not coming from the journals. She stood up and walked back into the hallway. She glanced back to the iron door. The smell was coming from there; from the place where Enzo had been in her memory.

She walked towards the door and found that it was padlocked. She gripped the lock and twisted it till it snapped under fatigue. She swiped the bolt back and pushed the door. It was dark in there but her nocturnal vampire sight gave her a distinct advantage. On the walls she saw nail marks and blood lots of blood. Then she spotted it out of the corner of her eye; the desiccated body of a vampire. Then she looked closer and saw that it was the vampire she had met that one time down in the basement.

She stared at him and stared at him and she didn't know what to do with him. He wasn't dead.

X

She needed to call someone, anyone. Then she thought and mentally ticked off all of her friends. Nope she couldn't call Matt or Jeremy because they were at the lake house again cleaning up the dead bodies of the vampires. Bonnie was with them. Carolina was out with Tyler right underneath Klaus' nose. Stefan wouldn't answer the phone for her not now. Damon was locked in the basement of the boarding house. So he was out. It was up to her then.

She quickly grabbed her purse and sped all the way home.

She jumped in her SUV and drove as quickly as she could to her father's office. She parked in the alleyway behind the clinic and broke the lock on the basement door. The stairway was burnt but now she could see that it wasn't as unstable as she had once thought. She gathered all the journals and tapes and placed them in the boxes she had from Carolina's 80s party. Then she grabbed the blanket, blood bags and the bucket of warm water and went into the room with the operating table. She placed the blanket on the table and dumped the rags in the bucket.

She grabbed Enzo's body and hauled him into the room. She reached for the blood bag and then she stopped. Why had she saved his body? Was she stupid? But she had read what her father had done to him. The years and years of torture this man had endured for the sake of creating a weapon to be used against vampires all in the name of saving her from her fate as the doppelganger. She had caused another person pain.

But she could fix this right now. She could atone for her sins starting with this vampire and then she could find a way to fix it with her friends, Stefan, and Damon. She made up her mind and grabbed the blood bags from the side table.

She opened his mouth and slowly poured the bag down his throat.

He was aware and tingling and caught in shadows. His mouth felt like it had dirt and cotton and rats had a fight in it. His heart started pumping again but his skin was dry and felt like it would slough off at any moment from his bones. Then more blood came down his throat and he gripped the source and blood exploded on his face and he tried in vain to leech out whatever was left from the source. A warm towel was pressed against his face and his skin started to feel clean and renewed.

Then his eyesight cleared and a face came into focus. She was a beautiful girl with long brown hair and large brown doe eyes; so innocent, so pure, so sweet. She smiled softly at him. She opened her mouth to speak but his hearing hadn't focused yet. All he could hear were the sounds of the animals scurrying outside and the heartbeats of the humans.

The girl took the rag away and edged a plastic bag full of blood to his mouth again. This time he noticed the tubing and placed his chapped lips on end and suckled. He chanced a look around and noticed that this wasn't his cell. This was the operating room of Dr. Gilbert. He widened his eyes in alarm and shot off the table.

"Wait Enzo, I am not going to hurt you no one else is going to hurt you," said the girl's raspy voice.

"Where am I," he croaked out.

"You're in my dad's office."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Elena. I've grown up since you last saw me," the girl said shyly.

Elena. Elena he twirled the name in his mind and came up with a memory of a little girl in pigtails and a red ball.

"Poppet, you were supposed to come get me for your party," he finally said.

"I know I'm sorry. I'm about 15 years too late," she said smiling softly. He noticed big fat tears threatening to fall down her cheeks. They stared at one another for a few silent seconds. Finally she broke down.

"Enzo I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't know what my father was doing to you down there. I completely forgot about you. I'm so sorry," she said in between gulps of air and sobs that escaped from her. He didn't know what the hell to do. He blinked several times as the girl cried into her hands and continued to beg him for forgiveness. Even when he had been alive he hadn't known what to do about a girl crying.

Then he realized something, this girl was the daughter of Grayson Gilbert and he wasn't tied down. He got angry and started snarling. He turned around and ripped the door opened and sped into the corridor looking for his prey.

Then the girl sped behind him and pushed him against the wall. He snarled at her. He had never been one to hurt a girl especially this one because she looked like Leda.

"Enzo my father is dead. He has been dead for close to two years now," she snarled and he watched as the veins under her eyes settled back down and her face returned to human.

"Well isn't this something. Did he know what you were before he died?" She let him go and stepped back from him.

"No, they died in a car accident. I've only been a vampire for only a few months now."

"I have to say poppet that he must be rolling in his grave right now."

"Yeah I know. Trust me a lot of people are upset with me for becoming a vampire."

"As much as your father hated vampires I can imagine."

"Actually not really because they hate vampires but because they think they failed in keeping me alive." He tilted his head and regarded her. She was pretty in the girl next door sort of way. She led him upstairs where she had plugged in the coffee maker she had brought from home and poured her and him a mug of hot coffee.

"Why did you save me," he asked tasting the offered drink and sat down on the floor.

"Because I read what my father had done to you and I was disgusted. I found your body by accident. What's the last thing you remember?"

"Well poppet your dear old da had just finished taking blood samples and he shut me in my cell for the night. Then no one came. I could hear people walking upstairs. I tried to yell out but no one could hear me so I tried to find a way out but nothing. I finally dried out a week later. Then I woke up here."

"That night we crashed when my parents picked me up from a party and they drowned in the river."

"I can't say that I'm sorry."

"You don't need to Enzo. I know what my father did and trust me I wouldn't blame you for hating me." He quirked his eyebrow.

"Why would you say that poppet?"

"My father experimented on you because he wanted to create a weapon in order to protect me and something I have learned recently is that when other people try to protect me they get hurt or other people get caught in the cross fire."

"Yeah well…" and he trailed off because he really didn't know what to say. The daughter of his torturer had saved him because she hated what her father had done to him. This one had a good heart.

"Thank you," he blurted out into the awkward silence.

"No need Enzo. It was the least I could do for you and if you let me I would like to continue helping you."

"Well it looks like I will need it. I haven't been out in the world since 1942."

"You've been a prisoner for 60 years."

"Yes I was capture in England when I left my post to get a meal and well someone knew what I was and captured me and brought me to a basement. Then I was moved to Virginia by Dr. Whitmore and then the experiments happened."

"Oh my god I'm so sorry."

"What year is it anyway?"

"2003."

"Damn so what have I missed since 2001."

"Well since my parents died in early 2001 you missed America getting attacked again by terrorist on Sept 11."

"The Soviets. I remember back in the 50s a lot of the researchers would talk about the commies." Elena laughed.

"No the middle easterners attacked us." And he looked confused.

"Honestly I'm not really sure who attacked us either but we're at war now."

"So I left when the world was at war and I come back when it is back at war. Good thing humans never change."

"Yeah I know."

"So what else," he said out of the corner of his mouth as he sipped on another blood bag and took a sip of the coffee.

"We have cellphones now."

"What now?"

"Wireless telephones that we can take anywhere with us and call whomever we want."

"Impressive," he said looking at the square little box and he had no idea what to do with it or operate it.

"We have lap top computers that we can connect to the internet with, satellite TV."

"Mostly technology has changed I'm guessing. So I guess I really will need your help." Then she got up and dug in the cooler and found a half of cheese cake and cut it to make two pieces for him and her.

"Seems like it and I really want to help you. I need to focus on something positive. I would like to say that the world is different since I became a vampire but really it's been out of control since my parents died."

"About that poppet how did you become a vampire?"

"That is a long damn story—"

"Well I have no place to be and I have learned to be patient."

"Okay we are going to need more coffee." So she got up and fetched more coffee. And she started her story. He listened to her intently and he was so amazed at her smile when she got to the parts that made her happy. Her animated way of telling her story reminded him of when Maggie would tell him about what was going on in the world. He did pause at the name Damon and he felt like his heart had stopped beating again but that couldn't be his traitorous friend. If he had survived and was now living so close to him well what were the odds? And his poppet apparently was in love with him. A plan started to form in his mind. Enzo always made plans, he was just bad at the follow through.

Elena for her part found herself telling Enzo everything about herself. Her life, her loves, her sins and all he did was listened. It was word vomit. He didn't judge her for loving two men. She found him to be a great and understanding listener.

"And that brings us to right now," she said finishing her mug of coffee.

"Well that is some story," he said.

"Yeah I know sounds like the plot of an Ann Rice novel."

"I'm sorry whom?"

"Sorry bad reference. She writes these vampire novels that are really popular."

"Vampires are popular in literature?"

"Very popular so are werewolves and witches."

"I would like to say thank god werewolves don't exist but you have both in your little town." Then the little black box rang.

"Elena, Elena," a girl's voice screamed over the phone.

"Caroline, what's wrong," his poppet said.

"Is Jeremy there," the girl said.

"No I thought he was with Bonnie and Matt at the lake house."

"No she left because I needed her to supervise the breaking down of the 80s dance. She said Kol came and attacked her. He wanted to kill her because he wants to prevent Silas from rising. He said no one could get to the cure if she's too dead to find it. She came straight here because Kol crushed her cellphone and I was the closest one. I sent her home and I told her I would call you."

"Oh my god, is she okay? How did she get away from Kol?"

"She gave him an aneurism. Whatever Shane did, helped her get my magic back. But that doesn't matter right now we need to find Jeremy? I think if Kol can't kill her than he will go after him."

"Did you try Matt?"

"Matt isn't answering either."

"Okay, I will go get Jeremy and Matt and you meet me at my house with Bonnie. Stefan is guarding Damon so we are going to have to fight this one alone."

"Yeah I will meet you there," Caroline said hanging up.

"I hate to do this to you," she said looking up at him, "but I need to go see my brother."

"Do you need my help," Enzo said.

"No you just woke up. I can't ask that of you," Elena said.

"I have been sitting around doing nothing for about two years and besides I would like to see the world outside. I also owe for saving my life, poppet," Enzo said standing up and dusting off his jeans.

"Okay but you need to be careful with Jer he is a supernatural vampire hunter and Matt is human so no biting him," Elena said walking back to the basement door.

"I was on a strict one cup of blood a day for the past sixty years I think I have learned moderation," Enzo said smiling at her.

They hurried out to her car.

A/N

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